Thousands of farmers and adivasis pledge to continue their vigorous fight against the unjust Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP)
Last rites of the insensitive Government carried out in front of Collector office in Badwani
Thousands throng the streets of Badwani protesting the SSP

More than 2500 adivasis and farmers from Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh
gathered in Badwani, on the banks of river Narmada and issued a challenge
to the Digvijay Singh government to dare submerge the thickly populated
villages in the Narmada Valley, when lakhs of people are determined not
to leave their mother land and mother river! Children, women and men
coming from four tehsils of Badwani and Dhar districts took out a massive
and colourful rally which was also a procession, with a corpse of the
government carried on the shoulders of "Reva ke Yuva" (Youth of Narmada).
They declared their ruler has dead and hence and hence insensitive to
their issues of life and livelihood; vowing to fight all the forces,
local to global out to destroy the country. The procession was taken with
chants of ^—Ram Nam Satya Hai^“ filling the air.

Bava Maharia of village Jalsindhi narrating the long story of adivasis
facing the rising waters and refusing to move while Mahesh Patel of
village Kundia warned the people and the government against use of cash
to lure the people as they did in Bargi. Reminding all about the other
river valleys Bhakra-Nangal to Chambal that are destroyed without even
achieving the declared benefits, Devrambhai and Kashiramkaka, Rukmini
Kaki one speaker after another, exposed the politics of betrayal that is
at the root of pushing Sardar Sarovar ahead. When the dam is stopped at
90 mts and not less than 40,000 families in the submergence area can't be
rehabilitated in the situation of 'no land', the valley expressed its
anguish at the political push and pull that the government of M.P. and
Gujarat are resorting to while sacrificing the lives of the most ancient
civilization of Narmada.

The rally was held in the context of the Narmada Control Authority
Rehabilitation sub-group's meeting to be held soon to decide whether the
dam height can be taken beyond 90 mts. The populated villages such as
Nisarpur, Kadmal, Chikhalda or Sondul, Pichodi which are below 95 mts and
also those in the Vindhya and Satpudas are, as the rally indicates, in no
mood to allow the infamous dam to proceed even after 16 years of
struggle.

Mahendrabhai, a Sarvodaya activist, Dr.Sugan Baranth and Himanshu
Upadhyay calling the dam as the symbol of serfdom and disparity that has
engulfed our water resources, appealed to pursue the alternative
decentralised non destructive ways of land and water management.

Ramesh Billore denounced Narmada Sagar Project as more destructive than
SSP. Medha Patkar warned the government of Madhya Pradesh against
inciting it's non-violent people and exposing real interest in
commercialisation of land and water resources against the rhetoric of
'Gram Sarkar'.

It remain to be seen whether the governments of Madhya Pradesh and
Gujarat will continue with their exhibition of vulgarly selfish politics
besides resorting to false statistics to conceal the true figure of 7000
families whose land could come under submergence this monsoon if they
push the dam without land for rehabilitation, and without a financial
plan to build and complete the 44000 crores rupees worth dam. People are
determined to create history!